Babar Azam breaks Virat Kohli's T20I record

Pakistani batsman Babar Azam overtook India's Virat Kohli to take the second-highest run-scoring position in men's T20 Internationals on Monday.

By scoring 41 runs in the third and last Twenty20 International of the three-match series against Australia at Bellerive Oval, the former captain achieved this feat.

Former Indian captain Rohit Sharma remains at the top of the format with 4,231 runs, while Babar now has 4,192 runs, four more than Kohli's 4,188.

In addition, the Pakistani player needs 40 more runs to surpass Sharma, who retired from T20I cricket along with Kohli following India's victory in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024.

Mohammad Rizwan, the current white-ball captain, is the only other Pakistani batsman in the Top 10 with the most runs in the format, aside from Babar.

Notably, the star batsman, who gave up Pakistan's white-ball captaincy before the white-ball tour of Australia, had a forgettable batting performance. In the three-match ODI series, the right-handed batsman only scored 80 runs.

Before his record-breaking 41-run knock in the final match, Babar scored three runs in each of the first two Twenty20 Internationals, demonstrating his continued inability to score big in the recently concluded series. 

Most runs in T20Is

• Rohit Sharma: 4,231
• Babar Azam: 4,192
• Virat Kohli: 4,188
• Paul Stirling: 3,655